February 2025 in Germany

The 75th annual Berlin International Film Festival, usually called the Berlinale, took place between 13 and 23 February 2025 in Berlin, Germany. American filmmaker Todd Haynes was named the Jury President for the main competition. It marked the first edition of Tricia Tuttle as the festival's artistic director after Carlo Chatrian and Mariette Rissenbeek stepped down after the 2024 edition.

The 2025 German federal election was held in Germany on 23 February 2025 to elect the 630 members of the 21st Bundestag, down from 736 in 2021 due to reforms in seat distribution. The 2025 election took place seven months ahead of schedule due to the 2024 collapse of the incumbent governing coalition. Following the loss of his majority, the chancellor called and intentionally lost a motion of confidence, which enabled the approval of a new election by the president. The 2025 election was the fourth early election in post-war German history, and the first since 2005.

The 61st Munich Security Conference (MSC 2025) was the annual meeting of the Munich Security Conference, that took place from 14 February to 16 February 2025 in Munich, Germany. A few days earlier the Munich Security Report had been published. Its title served as thematic framework for the conference: 'multipolarization' - A state of global reorganization between promising opportunities and endangered communality, especially in the management of crises and threats. According to the report, “depolarization” and substantial reforms of the international order are now needed more than ever. During the conference, a series of US statements at the conference sparked controversy and unrest among the attending European politicians. Key outcomes of the conference include further weakening of the transatlantic alliance, US attitude shift about the war in Ukraine – and Europe in general, increased US pressure on Europe to further raise defence spending, calls by the US for Europe to further increase military aid to Ukraine, and discord between US and Europe on topics as diverse as election interference, trade, freedom of speech and democratic values.

On 21 February 2025, a knife attack occurred at Berlin's Holocaust Memorial, resulting in the severe injury of a 30-year-old Spanish tourist. The suspect, identified as 19-year-old Syrian asylum seeker Wassim al M, reportedly expressed a desire to kill Jews.

On 13 February 2025, a Mini Cooper was driven into protesters at a demonstration organized by the trade union ver.di in Munich, Germany. 39 people were injured in the attack, 2 of which later succumbed to their wounds. The suspect, a 24-year-old Afghan immigrant and asylum seeker, was arrested shortly afterward.

In early 2024, widespread protests against the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party took place in Germany, after a report by investigative journalist group Correctiv revealed the presence of in-office party members at the meeting of right-wing extremists at Potsdam in 2023, centered on "remigration" proposals to organize mass deportations of foreign-born Germans, including those with German citizenship. Protesters have "sought", as declared by the organizers, to defend the German democracy from the AfD, with many protesters calling for the party to be investigated by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, or banned altogether. A second protest wave erupted in early 2025, shortly before the federal election held on 23 February.